


Unconventional Methods

by longforthepast



Series: Intergalactic Politics and Relations [1]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Cannibalism, Captain Marvel (2019) Spoilers, Don't copy to another site, Everybody Lives, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Venom Symbiote (Marvel), M/M, Mild Language, Misunderstandings, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Set after Endgame, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-15 19:37:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17534939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longforthepast/pseuds/longforthepast
Summary: Eddie and Venom are captured by the Avengers who see them as a threat to society and in need of detention and whatever comes next. Determined to escape, Eddie and Venom manage to change a few minds in a desperate attempt to stay together and maintain their freedom.





	1. Average Man, Above Average Life

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after a hypothetical Avengers Endgame where everyone lives. Carol's personality is a shot in the dark. Updates weekly on Thursdays and Sundays.
> 
> Written prior to Captain Marvel

The target left his apartment at 8:36 am every morning and returned at 6:37 pm most nights unless he stopped at his ex-fiance’s and her current boyfriend’s house for dinner. While in the apartment, he mostly cooked meat and potatoes, ate chocolate, worked on articles, slept or watched whatever happened to be on TV. This was all Clint and Natasha had gathered in two weeks of trailing the guy. Clint pinched the bridge of his nose and readjusted the binoculars to peer through the window at the man cooking dinner. Tater tots and hot dogs for the third night in a row. 

“Nat, I really think Tony’s got the wrong guy, and if he is the guy, he doesn’t have the damn alien anymore,” he whispered. The two of them were huddled together on a roof of an equally shitty apartment to Brock’s across the street.

“I’m not sure,” she replied, scrolling through the file Tony had given them. The aqua blue glow of the phone was the only light other than the orange glow of streetlights several floors below them. The information on the screen wasn’t new or much to go off of. The Life Foundation had wiped most of their records before FRIDAY got in there and pulled any information she could so the data on the aliens, symbiotes as the scientists had named them, was sparse. “You notice how he’s always talking to himself?”

“Yeah of course,” Clint replied, “I figured it was a writer thing, like how Bruce talks himself through every experiment he does.” Natasha shrugged and went back to reading. 

Eddie had been the last one alive who had been in contact with a symbiote, and now, employed and living in an apartment still ravaged by the Life Foundation’s strike team, he appeared to be as human as either of the Avengers staking him out. Natasha grimaced as she paused in her reading. She lifted her wrist to her face and activated the watch.

“Hey FRIDAY, what foods have a high concentration of phenylethylamine,” she asked. 

“Most meats have a high concentration but it breaks down when cooked, beans and other legumes as well. Chocolate is relatively high as well but egg whites, buffalo and soy protein have the highest concentrations available without synthesizing it in a lab,” the AI responded.

“Thanks FRIDAY,” Clint said before Natasha lowered her wrist. The AI chirped happily in acknowledgement. Natasha shrugged as if to say “really?” Clint held his hands up and looked at his partner. “Hey, when the machines rise up and enslave us, I’m trying to get a cushy job that’s not in the mines.” Natasha rolled her eyes but couldn’t conceal her smile. She smacked Clint’s arm as she looked back to the apartment. The lights were out. 

“Where’d he go?” Clint asked, flipping a night vision filter over the binoculars before Natasha tapped his shoulder and pointed to the street, where Brock could be seen, walking with his hood up and his hands stuffed in the pockets of the black leather jacket he wore over his sweatshirt. Natasha made her way to the fire escape as Clint kept an eye on the man, popping his comm in so they could stay in contact. 

“Base this is Hawkeye, Brock’s deviating from the routine he’s established, Widow and I are going to pursue,” He said as he leapt to the next building to keep Brock in sight. When he spotted Natasha half a block back and on the other side of the street, he grappled down and set himself up a block behind the target. When Eddie stopped to send a text, he kept moving, turning the corner at the next street and ducking into a porch stoop to wait for Brock to pass by. Brock who was an investigative journalist. Who definitely knew how to spot when he was being followed. Clint turned and knocked on the door. It opened to reveal a middle aged man, hair going salt and pepper in business clothes sans the tie.

“Good evening sir, the name’s Hawkeye, could I pop in for just a moment so the guy I’m following doesn’t realize I’m following him?” Clint responded, flashing his ID card. The man nodded in awe, and stepped aside, letting Clint step into the building. The door clicked shut behind him and he immediately went to the window and poked his fingers between the blinds, letting him see out onto the street. 

“Clint where are you?” Natasha said, his comm buzzing. 

“Ducked into an apartment so he doesn’t realize we’re following him. I’ll run ahead in a second and do the ‘bump and plant’ so we can get a tracker on him,” Cint explained, ducking back as Eddie passed by the windows. A few seconds later, Clint thanked the shocked businessman and dodged out the door. Natasha kept him updated. 

“Okay, off Leavenworth Street you want to make a left onto O'Farrell. Cross the street and if you make the light you should be able to bump him at the corner of Larkin and O’Farrell,” Natasha whispered, “And don’t miss him because then we’ll have to set him up again and we can’t do this all night.” Clint rolled his eyes and broke into a jog, used to Natasha’s instructions that were designed to give him a two second window to act. 

As instructed, Clint made his left, crossed the street and slowed his pace, pulling a beanie from his pocket and shoving it on. The tracker was affixed to the side of his jeans, a small disc that Tony and Peter had redesigned no fewer than twelve times before Shuri called them both idiots. Not for designing it badly, but for not thinking to make it out of vibranium. Light as a feather and immune to metal detectors. Clint kept his head down as he approached Eddie, tripping and bumping into him at the last possible second. His leg brushed Brock’s and the tracker latched on flawlessly. 

“Sorry man,” he muttered, walking off as he composed himself. He rounded the next corner and put his hand to his ear. “Tracker is planted, we can relax now.” 

In almost no time, Natasha was at his side and the two were following Brock towards the north end of the Tenderloin district. He entered an alleyway and Clint and Natasha sprinted to the entrance to keep an eye on him. Nothing good ever happened in alleyways. Natashsa ducked low and Clint peered over her head. They watched as Eddie pulled a guy away from a very scared and slightly drunk woman. She ran without hesitation, grabbing her purse from where the man had dropped it next to his gun. 

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you that it’s rude to rob people at gunpoint?” he asked, his voice dropping low and becoming gravelly. Natasha tapped her watch, and angled it to record the confrontation. 

Eddie’s jacket, expanded, coating him in oil slick black goo and bringing his height to something much closer to the Hulk’s. “You’ve been at this for months, and now, you’re about to be a wonderful meal for us.” The man cowered, shaking like a leaf. Eddie, the thing, whatever lunged down and before the mugger could scream, his head came off between the thing’s teeth. 

“Oh my god,” Clint whispered, watching as the rest of the body disappeared down the thing’s throat, “Tony was right.”

“Damn straight Barton,” Tony replied through the comm, “Thanks for the footage Widow, you almost made Rhodes hurl.” Natasha and Clint got up and ducked behind a BART stop as Eddie exited the alley and turned to head south. 

The two of them trailed him, watched him eat two other criminals, and then turn back to his apartment. He ducked into a small bodega. Natasha and Clint silently debated going in before agreeing to duck behind a car parked opposite the shop. Brock was dangerous and without backup, neither of them were keen on diving in headfirst. 

“I feel like this is an ‘ask Carol or Thor’ situation,” Clint said, “They’re the two who know the most about aliens who are here right now.”

Natasha nodded, watching through the window as Eddie chatted with the lady behind the counter, bag of red meats on the counter. “I’ll send a copy of the video to the Guardians too, they might be able to help.”

“Yeah but who know how long it’ll take them to receive and then send back the transmission,” Clint replied. 

“Gamora’s usually pretty quick,” Natasha said, “it’ll take a day or two at most.” She shifted her position, moving to crouch behind the rear wheel as Eddie prepared to exit the store. 

“Yeah but what if he kills more people before then,” Clint signed. Natasha rolled her eyes at her partner. 

“This is the first time he’s done it in two weeks,” she signed back, “The articles about it were spaced two to three weeks apart, I don’t think we should worry.” Clint shrugged and the two of them raced off to get back to their rooftop before Eddie got back to his apartment. 

The light flicked on in the main room of the apartment and Eddie kicked the door shut behind him. A black tendril emerged to lock it behind him. Clint sighed and threw one hand up in mock exasperation.

“Now you show yourself,” he grumbled. Brock set the bag down on the counter, picked up a legal pad and a marker and started writing. He walked over to the window and propped the legal pad up. The symbiote yanked the curtains closed and left Clint and Natasha staring at the sign. 

“Stop following us,” the sign read. Clint and Natasha sat back and tensed.

“How’d he know?” Clint asked. Natasha shrugged, and tapped out a message on her phone. She brushed a strand of her hair back under her hoodie.

“We’ll find out when we bring him in. Strange is portaling us back.” Golden-orange sparks emerged from beneath them and Clint yelped as they landed on the worn leather couch in the workshop. Stephen and Carol stood alongside Tony, who held the screenshot of Brock being engulfed by the alien suspended on his tablet. 

“Barton, you really need to stop doubting me,” Tony smiled. Clint made a face and tossed his pack at Tony, and the inventor caught it with practiced ease. 

“We’ll take the Klyntar in in three days, briefing tomorrow morning at ten,” Carol said, taking Nat’s bag, “Get some sleep guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is taken from Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me"


	2. Last Chance Power Drive

Whoever had been following them was good at it. Not just good like you had to be in order to be a moderately successful investigative reporter, these two were scary super spy good. Venom had picked up on their heartbeats as soon as they arrived that first day and they and Eddie had agreed that Venom had to stay hidden, much to theirs and Eddie’s chagrin.

“They have left,” Venom growled, “You should have let us eat them.” They manifested as Eddie flopped down on his bed, springs creaking at the sudden addition of weight. Tendrils connected to Eddie’s upper back as Venom rested their head on Eddie’s shoulder.  
“I know, but ‘m pretty sure they were Avengers and we do not want to get on their radar,” Eddie mumbled, toeing his shoes off and kicking them somewhere in the room. Venom extended a tendril and picked them up, placing them together in front of the dresser.  
“They wouldn’t follow us without reason,” Venom replied. They wiggled their head until they were under Eddie’s hand. Eddie began massaging them without realizing it.  
“Then we’re in danger already,” Eddie replied.  
“When they come again we should eat them.” Eddie rolled over so that he was staring at the ceiling.  
“That would cause a massive international incident and we’d be separated, tortured and killed. We’re going to either let them take us and we’re going to cooperate or we’re going to run and disappear into the wilderness and never return,” Eddie said.

“We do not run,” Venom hissed. Eddie dragged himself out of bed and groped around for his backpack. He shook out the contents onto his rumpled sheets. His laptop, notepad, camera and several chocolate wrappers fell out, sprawled all over the bed. He replaced the laptop and threw a change of clothes in.  
“We do when it’s the Avengers who are after us,” he explained, scooping up the bag and moving to the kitchen. Venom grabbed a stash of chocolate they kept and shoved it in as Eddie forced a handful of protein bars inside. He grabbed his keys, and opened the door, turning back to look at his apartment one last time. It hadn’t yet recovered from the first attempt at kidnapping him and surely wasn’t prepared for a second. He sighed and pulled the door shut.

He took the stairs two at a time down to the alley where the bike was parked, Venom preventing him from falling and smashing his face into the ground. They bubbled up through Eddie’s skin and hoodie, mimicking a leather jacket to protect Eddie from the inevitable debris kicked up on the road. He unstrapped his helmet and mounted the bike. The engine roared to life as he turned the key. He kicked off, determined to get the hell out of the bay area.  
“North or south bud?” he asked. Venom was quiet for a moment, rifling through Eddie’s memories which he had opened up to his bodymate for reference.  
_“North. Better hiding there,”_ Venom suggested. They projected the image of a dense forest into Eddie’s mind and the sense of security that came with it.  
“North it is. I’m just gonna give Anne and Dan a heads up before we disappear.” Eddie turned onto Anne and Dan’s street and parked the bike in front of their house. He hopped off, and ran up to the door, knocking furiously. He looked over his shoulder, making sure that no one was watching them.

Dan opened the door a minute later, normally smooth, perfect hair sticking up in twelve different directions. Venom snickered in Eddie’s mind. Dan blinked the sleep from his eyes and stepped back, letting Eddie in wordlessly. He sighed and rubbed his hand down his face.  
“Did you get shot?”  
“No.”  
“Stabbed?”  
“No.”  
“Are you bleeding internally?”  
“No?”  
“Alright, is it a medical emergency that I should be calling an ambulance for?”  
“No, no, no. Dan, I just needed to give you and Annie a heads up,” Eddie promised, almost tripping over Mr. Belvedere. The cat hissed at him, and Eddie stuck his tongue out back.

“I’m heading out of town for a while because I may or may not have done something dumb and pissed off some really powerful people.” Anne came downstairs, eyes half closed and hair pinned up neatly in a bun. Her giant gray sweatshirt almost swallowed her whole. Eddie frowned. That might have been his. He really couldn’t be sure. Nor could he ask for it back at this point.  
“You’re leaving?” she asked. She leaned up against Dan, wrapping her arm around his waist. He reciprocated, draping his arm loosely around her shoulders. A pang emanated from Eddie’s heart, and he was 90% sure that Venom hadn’t just squeezed it. Could have been him. Then again, if he’d had that he wouldn’t have met Venom and Riot would have destroyed the Earth and everyone on it. So maybe it was for the best that he didn’t have the perfect apple pie, white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and driving a Toyota Prius to the PTA meeting kind of life.

“Not forever, a couple days, a couple of months max,” Eddie promised, “I’m not getting run out of another city I promise.” She stepped forward, moving right up to Eddie and embracing him in a hug. He melted into it.  
“Stay safe, and if you need anything call us and please, don’t do anything stupid,” she said. Eddie gave her an affectionate smile, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.  
“Eh, when have I ever done anything smart?” he teased, and Anne shook her head. “No but seriously, I’ll be fine. If anyone comes looking for me just say that I left town following a lead and that I’ll be back in a few weeks.” Anne and Dan nodded as Eddie slipped out the door and back onto his bike.

 _“Where are we going?”_ Venom asked, as Eddie took them up through Oakland. Instead of answering, Eddie brought up a memory of hiking through Lassen National Forest, looking for a trafficking operation that he never found. He had found a new hatred for mosquitoes that day and had sworn off outdoor activities for a while. The forest was full of large, mature trees that grew close together and this time of year there would be no shortage of tourists for them to blend in with. Venom hummed in approval and settled between Eddie’s heart and lungs, enjoying the ride.

It was close to seven in the morning when they arrived, stopping in Mineral for breakfast and to stock up on some other supplies. The kid at the corner store was clearly not fully awake yet or had been working retail for so long that he no longer cared when Eddie set down three bags of Hershey’s Kisses and a massive bag of bite sized Reese’s. He paid in cash and then set out back to the bike, which was being admired by some locals.

“Nice bike,” one guy said, dressed like he was more qualified to be working on someone’s taxes than commenting on a motorcycle. “New Scrambler?”  
“Yeah, old one got wrecked in a crash,” Eddie said, strapping down his cargo to the back. He had enough chocolate to last five, six days, maybe a week if they rationed it. Not that they ever would.  
“You’re lucky to be alive if it wrecked one of those,” a different guy, this one in hiking gear, added.  
“You have no idea,” Eddie muttered before buckling his helmet and taking off, deeper into the forest. The bike rumbled beneath him, every bump in the road noticeable.

They stopped at midday, pulling off into a scenic overlook to enjoy a quick lunch before hitting the road again. Venom picked up on Eddie getting tired and took over driving, encasing Eddie’s hands and the handlebars in black as they sped northward, towards Alturas. Moments like these were what Venom had come to love. The two of them perfectly in sync and not as Eddie and Venom separately, but as one being, working together. Even when they ate, Eddie took part far less than Venom as the prospect of eating humans still disturbed him. They would never understand human morals, even after Eddie had explained them multiple times. They were stronger so according to the rules on Klyntar, they should have been allowed to consume the weak. This was certainly not the case on Earth.

Few times were they fully connected. Thoughts, goals, movements, everything in perfect sync. The fight with Riot was the closest they had come to truly being one. That had been like jumping into the deep end of a pool and swimming to the bottom. On the motorcycle, rocketing northward to escape the inevitable pursuit of the Avengers, they were just getting their feet wet. Venom pulled over and stopped the bike.

“What’s wrong,” Eddie asked as he zoned back in. Venom manifested, his face hovering inches away from Eddie’s.  
_“Open your mind,”_ Venom said, opening his completely. Eddie’s eyes went white, as they did when Venom was first trying to make himself known. Six hundred million years of information flowed between them, thoughts, memories, feelings exchanged and intermingled until the two were indistinguishable as individuals. They were aware of every cell in their body, human and symbiote alike. Every nerve ending, how much stimulation it would take for it to fire.  
“We can’t,” they croaked, voice strained and echoing, “It’s too much.” Eddie slammed the imaginary doors shut on his mind, separating them back into Eddie and Venom. Eddie was left panting, still sitting on the bike.  
“Sorry love,” Eddie said, “I’m not sure I’m ready for that.” Venom sent a pulse of sadness to Eddie, back to deliberately sharing emotions and thoughts, before sending a pulse of elation accompanied by squeezing Eddie more tightly. “What?”  
_“You called us ‘love’,”_ the symbiote responded, _“We like that.”_  
“Felt right. But I don’t think I’m ready for the complete mind meld thing yet okay? Maybe start with part of it?” Eddie suggested. Venom hummed for a second. Slowly, Venom’s thoughts trickled in amongst Eddie’s own. Hunger, fear for their safety and a desire to protect them both were most prominent but others flitted through too. The squirrel high in the trees above them, a car coming the other direction down the road, an odd weight on the side of Eddie’s left pant leg. Eddie reached down and plucked the black disc off. It weighed almost nothing.

 _“What the hell is this?”_ he thought. Venom engulfed his hand and they crushed it, the pieces falling to the ground. They opened their hand and the remnants crumpled to the ground.  
_“Don’t know, the man who bumped into you last night planted it.”_ Venom replied.  
“And you wouldn’t say anything?” Eddie asked, panic creeping into his thoughts. They were tracking them. They should turn around right now and head south, throw them off their trail.  
_“No, they’ll expect to find us here. We go for a few more hours then stop. The mountains are safer than the desert,”_ Venom said. He pulled up the image of them driving down a dark desert highway and being easily visible for miles and miles. In the forest they could hide. Act as the ambush predator they were. Eddie smiled at the plan, gunning the engine back up and starting off North, though switching the bearing to be more towards the east than before.

They rode for a few hours more as Venom had suggested, enjoying the newfound access to each other’s thoughts. Eddie’s attention was mostly taken up by driving and ensuring that they didn’t crash, but a fear of what was to come was stewing in the back of his mind. Venom knew they could take any threat that came their way and worked to reassure Eddie that nothing bad was going to happen to them.  
_“Someone in the trees up ahead,”_ Venom said, _“What should we do?”_  
_“Keep going, we’ll have to lose them later,”_ Eddie suggested. He steered the bike around a bend and pulled it to a quick stop. The roadblock that blocked their path looked official and the three people milling around working it did too. One man with a scruffy beard and long brown hair tied back into a bun that wouldn’t have looked out of place at all in Eddie’s neighborhood back home was bickering with a black man with a trim goatee and military-short hair. Despite the may heat, the first man was in long sleeves and gloves while his coworker was clad in a t-shirt and what looked like tactical pants. The third man stepped around the barricade to talk to Eddie. His hair was going grey at the temples and his dark red coat contrasted sharply with the navy blue clothes he wore underneath.

“Good morning sir,” the man said, “I’m Doctor Stephen Strange, these are my… associates James Barnes and Sam Wilson. We’re looking for Eddie Brock, you wouldn’t happen to know of him, would you?” Venom rippled under Eddies skin as he shook his head, trying to hide the fear that inevitably wormed up onto his face.  
_“We can eat them,”_ Venom suggested. Eddie squashed that idea almost instantly. Behind Strange, Sam Wilson had his phone out, looking from the screen to Eddie.  
“Hey Doc,” he called, “I’m gonna go ahead and take a break, and get some air.” That was code. That was definitely code.  
_“Run,”_ Eddie said. He dropped the kickstand on the motorcycle and took off into the woods, narrowly dodging the golden energy strand that came close to catching his ankles. Venom stayed hidden, protecting Eddie as best they could without giving anything away.

 _“Up!”_ they screeched, steering Eddie towards a redwood. Eddie fought, fear of heights overtaking the fear of being captured. _“Stop that it’s worked before!”_  
_“The Avengers have people who can fly, going high is not going to help us,”_ Eddie replied. They kept running, dodging through the trees as someone else crashed through the trees next to and behind them. Then the noise stopped. They kept running. Venom yanked them right, hard and pulled them away from someone hiding behind a tree, ready to knock them to the ground. Whoever it was swore and joined the pursuit, just behind them.

 _“V, mask?”_ Eddie thought, bringing his hands up to guard his face as they crashed through a branch, debris scattering behind them. Venom emerged, engulfing Eddie and taking off with a renewed burst of speed.  
“Holy shit!” Someone shouted from above them. They were young, and Eddie and Venom agreed long ago, no hurting children. Whoever it was, hit them from the side and knocked the two of them to the ground. The child was decked out in red and blue, with eye holes that looked quite like their own eyes. “Uh, you have the right to remain silent,” they said, shooting a white fiber from their wrists that held Venom to the ground. Venom ripped one arm free, and sliced the fibers to ribbons, tossing the kid back into the trees and taking off running. A blast of energy hit them in the same spot the child had hit them from. They stumbled and hit a tree. Then came another arrow between their feet.  
Low in volume, high in frequency. Just enough to drive Venom back under Eddie’s skin and leave him exposed to the cuffs that were slapped around his wrists as his arms were pulled behind his back. As soon as the cuffs were locked, they began emitting a low frequency sound. Too low for a regular or even enhanced human to hear, but Venom heard it and it drove him deep within Eddie’s tissue.  
“Edward Charles Allen Brock,” someone said, red boots with gold piping the only thing in view. The air smelled of fire and of ozone. “We have some questions for you and your other. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”  
“I friggin hate running,” Eddie slurred as he was dragged to his feet upon which he promptly passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I changed my update schedule because of the overwhelming positive response and the fact that I carved out more time to edit than I thought I'd have. So enjoy!
> 
> Chapter title is taken from Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run".


	3. Nature of My Game

The Avengers paired off and took turns watching the cameras. Brock had done nothing but pace back and forth since waking, no sign of the symbiote anywhere. It had retreated back under his skin in the woods, leaving Brock in a dust covered hoodie and jeans. It had refused to show itself since. Carol scoffed as he flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Natasha’s eyes flicked from the screen which cast the control room in an aqua blue glow to her partner for a brief second.  

“Did we kill it?” Natasha asked. It had been six hours. Carol lowered her hand from where it had been resting against her jaw and shook her head.

“My blast wasn’t hot enough and Clint’s arrow was at the wrong frequency, so no, I think it’s just hiding,” Carol responded. She paused the video feed and zoomed in on Brock. Pressing play again, she watched his lips move as if he was whispering to someone. “Oh yeah, it’s still in him.” She winced, Natasha muffling a chuckle. “You know what I meant.”

 

“Going in to question him?” Natasha asked, turning the swivel chair around as Carol threw a jacket on over her training clothes. 

“Yup,” Carol replied, “Drop the divider for me would you?” Natasha turned back to the computer, entering the command for the reinforced glass divider to descend in the cell. Brock jumped from his position on the bed and walked up to the glass. He placed only the tips of his fingers against it and when there was no reaction, he leaned up against it. The microphones in the room picked up his sigh as he rested his forehead, breath fogging the glass up. 

“Let me call Thor and Banner down, I’ll go with you,” Natasha said. She picked up her phone and typed out a text.

“No, they’ve already got four hours scheduled today, don’t call them in earlier than you have to. I’ve got this, you stay here and monitor the feed,” Carol said. She stepped out of the monitor room, little more than a converted supply closet at the end of a hall. Natasha sighed, hitting send on the text anyway and refocusing on the feed. 

 

The door, indistinguishable from the rest of the paneling in the room, slid up and Carol walked in. Brock likely wouldn’t recognize her as the woman who delivered the penultimate blow in the forest without her suit, and hopefully the Klyntar wouldn’t make the connection between her today and her in the past.  Carol exhaled softly. She could handle any threat that came her way. This wasn’t a fight. Punching her way out of this would get her nowhere. She repeated the mantras to herself as she stepped forward. As soon as the door had opened, Brock had straightened up, his eyes darting up and down, observing Carol and taking in any potential threat. 

“Mr. Brock,” she said, dragging a folding chair in behind her. “My name is Colonel Carol Danvers, and I’d like to ask you a couple of questions.” She set up the chair and sat on it backwards, resting her arms on the chair back infront of her.

“I don’t think I really have a choice,” Eddie quipped. He sat down on the bed and leaned back. He opened his arms, inviting Carol to ask away before crossing them again. 

“Alright, please state your full name and date of birth for the record,” she said.

“You already know this,” Eddie replied, “So why don’t you cut the crap and ask me what you really want to know.” 

Carol shrugged. “When did you first bond with the Klyntar?” she asked.

“The what now?” Eddie asked. There was a pause before he continued. “Oh you mean my other. Like early October 2018 so almost a year ago.”

“And you can communicate with it?” Carol asked. She leaned forward. Eddie paused, before nodding slowly.

“Yeah, they share thoughts with me and I can respond.” 

 

Carol stood up, and turned the chair around so now there was nothing but glass between her and Eddie. She sat down, leaning forward with her hands clasped between her knees.

“And how often does it talk to you?” she asked, one eyebrow quirked up.

“Almost constantly, they keep up a pretty active running commentary,” Eddie said, “Ow! That was my liver and that wasn’t an insult! You’re just chatty!” He went quiet for a moment, rubbing his abdomen. 

“Did it just bite your liver?” Carol asked, both eyebrows creeping up towards her hairline. 

“Not so much as bite but yeah, no, they’re being a pain ‘cause they haven’t eaten much recently,” Eddie replied, “So could we get some food in here, like something with a lot of–”

“Phenylethylamine? I’ll see what I can do,” Carol responded. When Eddie looked at her in shock she shrugged. “Before the Life Foundation went under, Mr. Stark’s AI raided their files and downloaded anything that seemed interesting.”

“Well that’s horrifying. Who thought that it was a good idea to give another megalomaniac access to the information that killed forty six people,” Eddie said, “And what does Stark want with Drake’s research.”

 

“Not much. It was mostly useless information since Thor and some of the others who have been to space for an extended period of time could actually tell us more. We just want to know if that thing you’re carrying is a threat to Earth,” Carol replied. Eddie stood up, and walked closer to the glass, glaring at Carol. His eyes were a bit too light, and maybe there were a few too many teeth in his mouth that were far sharper than any human teeth should ever be. 

“They’ve got a name you know,” Eddie said. 

“And for the record, what is that?” Carol asked. Black goo bubbled up through Brock’s skin and covered him. She leaned back in shock as Brock was engulfed by the symbiote.

“We,” they hissed, “are Venom.” Carol jumped out of her seat, hands glowing and ready to fire if Venom made a move. They reached out to touch the glass and were blown back into the wall with an energy wave from the vibranium-meshed glass. The symbiote retreated back inside Eddie, who was left dazed and sprawled against the wall. 

“Kree scum,” Venom hissed, using Eddie’s vocal chords. That struck a nerve. Carol’s fists began glowing with renewed intensity and she slammed her hand against the divider, energy dispersing through the mesh. 

“I am not Kree,” she said. Every word was strained as Carol bit back a series of insults that would make any sailor blush. 

“Yeah,” Eddie coughed, “but you’re not exactly human either, are you?” He gave Carol a crooked smile, the gravel of Venom’s voice still semi-present as he responded. 

“None of your damn business, parasite,” Carol snapped. 

“Oh no.”

 

“Parasite!” Venom hissed, materializing from Eddie’s shoulder.

“Oh God, don’t get them started,” Eddie begged, leaning his head back against the wall. “I know you’re not a parasite, love, isn’t that enough?”

“She is a destroyer, corrupt and blind by her regime,” Venom said, opalescent eyes never leaving Carol’s glowing ones. “The Kree fight as if there is no collateral damage, Skrulls are a scourge, but the destruction the Kree Empire leaves in their wake is insurmountable.” 

“I left the Kree long ago,” she said, hair floating back down to around her shoulders and eyes no longer glowing. “I can’t deny the destruction and pain I caused but I’m fighting a better fight now.” She turned to leave. She dragged the chair with her to the door. Before she left though, she turned around, to a glowering symbiote attached to Eddie by a handful of tendrils. “And how exactly are you better than a Skrull?” The door closed behind her and the glass wall went up. She could hear Venom shouting at her from behind the wall. 

 

Thor rushed into the hall, Stephen and Tony right behind him. Aggravation was clear on their faces, and fear permeated the atmosphere. Carol straightened herself up and tucked her hair behind her ear.. 

“Are you insane?” Tony asked. 

“It could have killed you,” Strange added.

“Are you trying to start a war?” Thor asked, rage barely contained behind his words. Carol sighed and propped the chair up against the wall.

“No. I would have liked to see them try. And no.” she replied, pointing at each of the Avengers in turn, “I had it completely under control.” Tony shook his head slowly, eyes wide open and mouth open.

“That was not control,” he said, “that was reckless and unnecessary.”

“I was playing him like a,” Carol paused, face going blank, “the instrument, it’s um oh god the song  _ Devil Went Down to Georgia _ ?”

“Fiddle?” Stephen suggested.

“Yes! I was playing him like a fiddle.” Carol snapped as the idiom fit. “ The Klyntar calls itself Venom, it communicates with Eddie regularly and apparently if it isn’t fed, it will eat Eddie,” Carol replied.

Tony grimaced. Carol had gotten some useful information beyond what Drake’s files had and what she already knew, but there was no way they would get Brock to talk now. 

“She has a point,” Thor said. The anger had softened from his face, but discomfort still radiated off of him. 

“I know she does,” Tony replied, “But that still doesn’t excuse the fact that you entered the cell without backup or permission and just made our jobs harder.”

 

“Okay, I’ll admit,” Carol said, holding her hands up in front of her chest, palms facing Tony, “It probably wasn’t my best idea ever, but I think as long as someone else goes to ask questions next time he’ll still cooperate.” Thor shook his head before clapping Carol on the shoulder as he walked past her and towards the control room where he and Bruce would be next to watch the feed.

“Please, don’t do anything else brash,” he said. Stephen and Tony dispersed as well, back to whatever they were working on before, leaving Carol with a still simmering temper and her thoughts. Flying was a good idea right now. 

 

Natasha’s head was in her hands and her fingers pulled at her hair, bunching it into little red knots. Bruce sat next to her, his attention divided between the screen showing  Brock lying on the bed, Venom hovering over him, a notepad where he was scribbling, and comforting Natasha. Thor stepped behind Bruce and cleared his throat. Natasha’s head whipped up and turned to him before relaxing. 

“Does Asgard have any beef with the Klyntar?” she muttered, returning to her previous position. 

“Perhaps my father did, but I hold none,” Thor promised, “You couldn’t have known things were going to turn out the way they did.”

“I thought she was just going to use the two-way mirror but no, she had to provoke them.” Natasha stood up, shook her hair out and then moved so Thor could take the seat. 

“How about you take some food in later? They did say they were hungry.    Start building up the good cop routine so you can get information from them,” Bruce suggested, zooming in on where Venom connected to Eddie. He scribbled furiously on his notepad. Natasha’s eyes lit up as she exited the room and went to drag Clint into the plan. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is taken from The Rolling Stones's "Sympathy for the Devil"


	4. If You Have Half a Brain

Venom snarled at the closed door for twenty minutes, two hours? Time had no meaning and all Eddie had to go by was the hunger that they felt. The barrier dropped again and Brock sat down on the bed. One foot up on the ledge and the same wrist resting on that knee. A petite woman with fiery red hair entered, wearing similar clothes to the first woman. A man followed her in, with short brown hair spiked with the sweat that dripped down his face.  They each carried a plate of food, piled high with red meats, chocolate and other phenylethylamine rich foods. Eddie felt Venom’s hunger with a sharp pang as his own stomach growled. The two set the plates on the ground and the man signed “up 4” in sign language and the barrier raised off the ground, allowing the red head to push the plates under before the barrier silently lowered again. 

“Need anything else before we leave?” She asked. Her smile was earnest, but her eyes were cold, calculating. Like Anne was when she was in the courtroom. 

_ “Food!” _ Venom cried, preparing to surge forward and eat it in one bite. Eddie mentally pulled them back, begging them to wait just a minute.

 

“How do I know it’s not poisoned?” he asked, crossing his arms. 

“We have no intention of harming you Mr. Brock,” she replied. She performed the same sign as earlier and pulled a knife from her pocket. Snapping the blade open, she stabbed a small piece of meat from each plate while making eye contact with Eddie. She took a bite of each. “Considering how little we cooked this I’m likely in more danger eating this than you are.” She laughed as she chewed, covering her mouth with her hand. The barrier lowered again and Venom shot forward, eating the contents of both plates in two quick bites. Eddie sighed deeply as the two Avengers stared on in shock. 

“Do-do you need anything for yourself?” The guy asked eyes wide and face pale. He threaded both hands through his hair, cradling the back of his head and spiking the sweat drenched hair. Two bright purple hearing aids were cradled around his ears. Superheroing put your body in danger frequently, Eddie still had nightmares where he would wake up grabbing at his chest, looking for the sword that wasn’t there, but this was the first time Eddie could think of that he’d seen actual physical repercussions for the job. 

“Nah, as long as one of us eats both of us are generally fine,” he replied, stroking Venom’s head as the symbiote forced their way under Eddie’s hand like an overeager dog. 

“Alright man,” the guy said, “can you just pass the plates back under?” He signed for the barrier to be raised and slowly, Eddie slid the plates under. “We’ll be back later to bring you dinner, any special requests?” Eddie shrugged and the two visitors smiled politely as they left the room. 

 

_ “They were the ones following us,” _ Venom said.  Eddie hummed in acknowledgement. 

_ “Why would they do the good cop/bad cop routine so close together? _ ” He mused,  _ “Vee I don’t think they know what they’re going to do with us.” _ Venom purred and slid back under Eddie’s skin. The barrier went up and the entire cell was available to them again. Large enough that Eddie could pace back and forth comfortably but not so large that Venom could take over and have a turn, so they resigned themselves to swirling between Eddie’s lungs and ribs while his host paced.

 

_ “We need to find a way out of here,”  _ Eddie huffed as he flopped back on the bed.

_ “Already looked Eddie,”  _ Venom replied,  _ “There’s nowhere to squeeze out.” _ The two of them sat in silence, thoughts passed back and forth effortlessly. Fighting their way out when the door opened wouldn’t work because the glass. Bargaining with whoever came in next wasn’t likely to work either, because together they were seen as dangerous. Together. That was the key. 

_ “V, what if when the barrier is up you slip to one of them and then go let me out and I meet back up with you?”  _ Eddie asked. The plan left a sinking, hollow pit in his stomach and Venom’s dread at the plan was palatable.  _ “Wouldn’t be long at all, love.” _

_ “You would be vulnerable while I was gone,”  _ Venom said,  _ “Don’t want to risk you getting hurt.” _

_ “I don’t think they’ll hurt me, and if you’re careful they won’t even know anything is different until you’re back with me.” _ Eddie said.

_ “Still a bad plan,”  _ Venom grumbled,  _ “But we can try. I choose when we go though. I need a host I can easily overpower, the child maybe.”  _ Eddie shifted uncomfortably. The kid was just that, a kid. The idea of Venom controlling him, even if for less than ten minutes was uncomfortable. 

 

_ “Are you sure there aren’t other options?”  _ Eddie asked. Venom sent flashes of attempting to hitch a ride on the other Avengers through Eddie’s mind, all of them ending in some form of disaster. 

_ “The man who was following us is an option but his partner is too observant,”  _ Venom replied. Waves of sympathy radiating off of them were enough to soothe Eddie and soon, they were both staring at the ceiling. 

_ “Why have you never told me about your home planet?”  _ Eddie asked. Venom bristled. 

_ “It is not a nice place, and I don’t want to talk about it,”  _ Venom replied. Panic bristled through their bond and Eddie placed a hand against his chest, reassuring Venom that they were safe. 

_ “Well I think a little context would be helpful, considering who we’re dealing with”  _ Eddie said,  _ “Who are the Skrulls?” _ Instead of telling him, Venom shared memories. Green humanoid creatures with engravings covering their skin and pointed elf-like ears. They were shapeshifters who would kidnap and impersonate high ranking officials in a race and then systematically wipe them out, using the planet’s natural resources to further their mission. Eddie exhaled sharply at the terror that echoed through their bond when Venom thought about them. 

 

_ “Love it’s alright,”  _ Eddie reassured,  _ “They won’t hurt you, I won’t let anyone hurt us.” _ Venom huffed and pulled up more memories of a different race they mentioned. The Kree. If Venom had been scared of Skrulls, they were downright terrified of the Kree. They were scientists and warriors, not particularly physically advanced, but light years ahead of Earth in terms of technology. Always in search of war, they would kidnap advanced lifeforms to try and make them stronger, engineer them to be the ideal warrior and then execute them if they refused to join the Empire. Venom recalled how it had echoed through the Hive Mind the day that the Kree had showed up on a planet to ‘liberate’ it from Klyntar’s hold and the pain they had all felt that day. 

_ “She is one of them,”  _ Venom said,  _ “The one who glows is one of their experiments.” _

_ “Vee, I think she escaped, she really seems to hate the Kree and I don’t think she’s going to hurt us.”  _ Eddie reassured. The lie tasted bitter in his mouth. 

 

_ “Back in the forest I called you ‘love’ and you said that you liked that,”  _ Eddie said, changing the subject to avoid dwelling on the negative. Venom purred happily and squeezed Eddie’s torso lightly.

_ “Yes Eddie. That made you happy and it therefore makes us happy too,”  _ Venom replied. 

_ “Venom do you love me?” _ Eddie asked. 

_ “Of course, you take care of us and are a good host,”  _ Venom responded. Eddie sighed and rubbed a hand down his face.

_ “No, not like that, but I’m glad you love me as a host. Like do you romantically love me?”  _ Eddie elaborated _.  _ He sent flashes of past relationships through their bond. Annie, Betty from the Daily Globe, Cass from his intro to journalism class half a lifetime ago. The feeling of warmth when they were together. At the time he wanted to spend the rest of his life with each of them. He would be spending the rest of his life with Venom, unless they decided that he was no longer a suitable host and jumped ship. Horror echoed through their bond and Venom wrapped his tendrils around Eddie’s torso in an approximation of a hug.

_ “Would never leave you Eddie,”  _ Venom promised,  _ “Not unless it was to help us both and even then, I’d return.”  _ Venom was quiet for a moment.  _ “Eddie, I think I do love you.” _

_ “I love you too Vee,”  _ Eddie replied, slipping off to sleep, elation echoing through their bond. 

 

One result of being bonded to Venom was that Eddie only needed five hours of sleep a night, and even then it was better if it was broken up into one longish chunk and a short nap around mid day. Without any way to know what time it was, he slept, hoping that he wasn’t about to screw up his circadian rhythm. Venom was eager to let him sleep, so frankly he couldn’t have been too far off. 

Venom didn’t dream, so they found it curious when Eddie vividly hallucinated memories or improbable and sometimes impossible situations while unconcious.  They liked to dig deep into Eddie’s mind, and watch the dreams as Eddie did. He was in New York, crouched on top of a building with his notepad and a camera. Fear radiated through Eddie’s subconscious, even in dreams he didn’t like heights.  Eddie lifted his camera, leaning forward and zooming in. It wasn’t clear who, or what he was after, but these dreams were rarely completely clear. The scene shifted as Eddie tipped forward, his stomach sinking and heart jumping into his throat. Just before he hit the ground, Venom encased him in the dream. Humming happily, Venom took this as a good sign, they trusted each other and even in Eddie’s dreams Eddie knew they would protect him.

 

_ “Eddie door,”  _ Venom said, pulling his host out of the dream. What it was about, he already couldn’t remember. By the way his stomach sank and the fear that tingled throughout his body, Eddie guessed it had been a nightmare. He awoke to one too. Still trapped in the cell, the glass divider down and the door open. The two people on the other side of the glass were watching them with rapt attention. Tony Stark stood just behind a masked Spiderman both carrying large plates. 

 

“We brought dinner and the kid insisted on coming so Eddie Brock, meet Spiderman, who is way too curious about everything and is leaving now,” Tony said. Spiderman deflated visibly and set the plate on the ground next to the barrier for Tony to  push through. 

“He can stay if he wants,” Eddie stated, “It’s not like we’re going to do anything and we kind of have a ‘no hurting kids’ policy in place anyway.”

“I’m not a kid!” Spider-Man replied, faster than he really should have if the lie was to be at all convincing.

“You’re like twelve.”

“Seventeen.”

“Close enough, but the point is, we’re not going to do anything to hurt anyone,” Eddie said, pushing off the bed into a standing position. Spiderman looked to Tony, the mask somehow conveying begging as he stared up at the man. Tony deflated and nodded. 

 

“You said you weren’t going to hurt anyone, yet we have you both on video eating several people,” Tony contested. He pulled out his phone and shook it once, a holographic video of the two of them biting the mugger’s head off the other night. Eddie cringed, watching as Venom’s jaws closed over the man’s head. He could still feel the snap of the vertebrae and could still taste it. Venom hummed in pleasure, that had been a good hunt. 

“Venom’s got to eat, they need–”

“Phenylethylamine, we know.”

“Yeah, that, and the best source of that is um, brains. We’ve got it worked out though, it’s once every two to three weeks that they need them and they only go after bad people.” 

“Who decides that they’re bad people?” Spider-Man asked, now casually standing on the ceiling. 

_ “When I take him, I’m copying that ability,”  _ Venom said, excitement palatable. Eddie’s stomach dropped. A new way to get him up high. Fun. He sighed, not fully prepared to dive into the explanation he gave Venom months ago. 

 

“Me mostly,” Eddie answered, “Rapists, abusers, murderers, drug dealers who are preying on kids to get them hooked and then making them work as mules, not petty thieves or drug users, and it’s like three weeks of research for every one of them.”

“If you kill a murderer, there’s still the same number of murderers in the world,” Tony said, his voice going up several octaves.

“Kill two,” Spiderman and Venom, who had manifested from Eddie’s lower back, said in sync. Eddie sighed and burrowed his head in his hands as Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I should have never let you on Twitter,” Eddie muttered. Tony signaled for the barrier to be raised and slid the plates under. Venom scooped up one for Eddie and devoured the contents of the other on their own. Eddie picked at the contents of the plate for a while before realizing why Venom had passed it to him. The plate was solid black. This was their chance. 

 

_ “What about the atmosphere?”  _ Eddie asked. Venom sent back an image of the parts of him that were currently exposed to the air. A thin layer of epithelial cells, similar to his skin cells formed a barrier between Venom and the air. 

_ “We’ve learned from you Eddie, can handle short periods of time separated.”  _ they replied. Eddie smiled slightly and went back to eating.  _ “Taking too long,”  _ Venom said. They lunged forward, licking the contents off the plate and seeping back into Eddie’s body. As Eddie stepped forward to slide the plates back under, he felt Venom seep from his arm and wrap themself around the black plate, which Eddie slid to Spiderman. It was lonely in his head without Venom and he was already eager for them to return. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is taken from Rupert Holmes's "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)"


	5. Voice in my Head Drives my Heel

Tony and Peter walked into the kitchen, Peter’s mask having dissolved into nanotech as soon as they exited the room. Neither he nor Tony saw the black plate ripple and Venom dissolve through Peter’s glove. Venom settled around Peter’s brainstem and made themself as small as possible as to not brush any nerve endings.

“Mr. Stark, they don’t seem that bad,” Peter said, flashes of adoration for his mentor racing across his brain. This kid was an open book and Venom knew every line.

“Kid, they eat people,” Tony said as he placed the dish he was carrying in the dishwasher. Peter followed suit not noticing the inky tendril that slipped into his finger tips. “They’re a threat and as long as they’re here, we need to be ready to go at any time. Brock’s smart and with the alien backing him up it’s only a matter of time before they try to escape. Is there anything you need in the lab in case there’s a problem?” Venom scoffed. They wouldn’t hurt the Avengers, they were good people for the most part.

 

“I don’t think so, I just made a new batch of web fluid and Karen ran diagnostics last night so I’m good,” Peter said. So the fibers weren’t organic, much to Venom’s dismay. They could still replicate them, the formula flitting through Peter’s brain. Venom gently nudged his thoughts toward the control room.

“I’m going to join Wanda and Clint on monitor duty before training. ” Tony shook his head affectionately and bid Peter good luck, snagging a cup of coffee on the way to the lab. Peter walked the other direction, past the holding cell and towards the monitor room. As turned into the hall that contained the exit to the hangar and the monitor room at the very end, Peter was tackled by a blur of blue and purple. Venom bristled, ready to defend themself and their host if the need arose.

 

“Hey spider-boy,” Shuri said, releasing Peter from her death grip, “What’s up?” She was not a threat. Peter was happy to see her, causing Venom to relax.

“Not much, I’m guessing your brother told you about our new guest?” Peter turned and walked with Shuri towards the lab. The opposite direction of the monitor room.

 _“No!”_ Venom wailed. This would take time, and take them longer to get back to Eddie. Peter perked up, looking around as to who had shouted.

“Did you hear something?” Peter asked. Venom shrunk down again, trying to make themself as small as possible.

“You’re probably suffering some hearing damage from being in close range of Clint’s arrows,” Shuri replied, “With the way you heal you’ll be fine in a day.” Venom scoffed to themself. They could heal hearing damage in a matter of seconds. Peter was incredible, yes, stronger than should have been possible for someone his size and far more resilient than the average human, but he wasn’t quite a perfect match, not like Eddie.

 

“That’s probably it,” Peter said. He shook his head as if to clear the noise. “You here to run tests?” Venom bristled again. No more experiments. No more needles. No more tests.

“More like interpret readings,” Shuri said. She grimaced and tapped her Kimoyo beads, pulling up a live feed of the cell. Eddie was leaning against a wall, eyes glassy as he stared at the ceiling. “Once Okoye heard what they’ve done, she said that if I went in there, I would be meeting my ancestors far sooner than I expect to.” She frowned, but her eyes softened. Peter had only met Okoye once and Venom drew on that knowledge to decide how serious that threat was. She certainly cared about Shuri, but it was likely that it was a joke and that Okoye was only interested in keeping Shuri safe. Not a bad person, though she had scared Peter the first several times they met.

 

The duo of teenage geniuses sat down at a table and pulled up the video footage from the cell from when Eddie had first been thrown in there. Captain Marvel and Thor had hauled him in, sitting him down against one of the walls. Carol backed out of the room, glowing fist leveled at Eddie as Thor undid the cuffs. He backed out of the room and the door slid shut. Shuri paused the video feed and copied the readings FRIDAY took onto a separate screen.

“Incredible,” she whispered, “Look how high his core temperature is, and yet his heart rate and respiration rates are completely normal.”

“Graph it, that way we can see how they change,” Peter suggested. Shuri gave him a side eye and swiped her fingers along the hologram.

“Way ahead of you,” Shuri responded, the graph rendering as FRIDAY leapt through the data. A spike in temperature and heart rate four hours ago when Carol had been in the room and Venom had first showed themselves rocketed above the otherwise level lines. Then, fifteen minutes ago, body temperature dipped back to normal for an unenhanced human. Venom seized control, digging into every crevice of Peter’s brain and activating the motor cortex. They sat up straighter, pretending to look at the data.

 

“FRIDAY, pull up video feed from twenty minutes ago and play it at one and a half speed until we catch up to the present,” Shuri ordered. Venom made Peter stand up and turn around. This was bad. They looked jerky as Peter struggled to regain control of his limbs.

“Where are you going?” Shuri asked as Venom walked them out of the lab. Peter’s voice was high, this was going to be tough.

Venom made Peter cough, “I’m going to check in with Clint and Wanda, see if they noticed anything odd.” Shuri nodded and mumbled what may have been encouragement or an expression of doubt. She typed a command and FRIDAY scanned Peter. His body temperature was up almost ten degrees. She tapped her Kimoyo beads.

“Clint, get ready, trouble’s heading your way,” she said as soon as the archer picked up.

 

Peter was more difficult to puppet than Venom had been expecting. First, the kid was crazy strong physically and had a much stronger mind than should have been in a teenager’s head. His experiences with pain and darkness had made him far more self aware than most adults. Pain marked his life, and even though Venom knew Peter could protect himself and had a team full of superheroes ready to go to war for him, they still felt a strange need to defend the child. They couldn’t dwell on that, Eddie was counting on them in order to make escape possible. Flinging the door to the monitor room open, they were met with an arrow leveled between their eyes.

“Clint what the hell man?” Venom as Peter asked, backing up with their hands raised.

“Nice try parasite, Shuri radioed as soon as you ran off,” Clint replied. Venom winced at the name, the tic showing on Peter’s face as Clint drew the arrow back a little more.

“If you shoot that arrow you aren’t going to be able to hear anything for a while,” Venom argued, “maybe ever again.”

“Joke’s on you asshole, I’m already deaf,” Clint said. Venom raised one of Peter’s eyebrows before ducking and sweeping Clint’s legs out from underneath him as the arrow embedded itself in the wall next to their head. Clint attempted to pin the child down, but Venom was on their feet and using Clint’s handcuffs to lock him in place before he could more. They kicked the bow away, preventing Clint from activating the sonic arrow.

 

Wanda’s powers danced around her fingers, bathing the room in a red glow before she knocked Venom back, before they made use of Peter’s powers and stuck to the wall. The magic started snaking its way toward Venom, surely to force them to release their hold on Peter.

“I don’t want to hurt you Peter,” she said, “Fight this, you’re stronger than them.” Venom scoffed and shot one of Peter’s web shooters, pinning Wanda’s hands together. They yanked her forward. Venom put one of Peter’s hand on her shoulder. Venom applied pressure using Peter’s thumb and Wanda crumpled to the ground, tension from every muscle in her body gone.

 _“No stop it!”_ Peter cried. He lashed out, fighting in the wrong ways in order to regain control, _“Stop hurting people!”_

 _“I didn't do any lasting damage, she’s merely unconscious and will wake up soon. I don’t like this either, s_ _o cooperate, and this will all be over soon.”_ They walked into the room and stood over the computer, punching in the code to open the cell. The door slid open and Eddie stood up. Venom turned to leave but found themself unable to move.

 _“I won’t let you hurt my friends,”_ Peter said. He shoved Venom down in his mind and with strained movements, tapped out the command to close the cell and lock down the building. Before he could hit input, Venom engulfed him, wrenching control back by force. The chair fell to the ground as Venom sprinted out of the room, their chances of getting back to Eddie slimming with every second the Avengers knew they were free from the cell.

 

If anyone looked quickly, it would look like Peter was wearing a black suit with white accents. Venom had decided the spider had to be bigger, stretching the legs up to Peter’s collar bones and the bottom legs extending to his hip bones before cutting down the outside of his legs. Puppeting the youngest Avenger, they walked toward the cell where Eddie was poking his head out. Venom hurried Peter along and grabbed Eddie’s shoulder, transferring back to him as quickly as possible. Peter staggered backwards, red and blue suit visible once again, and caught himself against the wall. He looked up after Eddie, who was sprinting toward the main level, guided by Venom’s memories of the compound. Peter raised an arm weakly to web him to a wall but decided against it and pushed himself up, trudging towards the common area. Venom wasn’t going to hurt anyone, not as long as the team stayed out of their way but knowing the team, they would do everything they could to stop the odd couple from leaving. Brock rounded a corner into the main area and immediately dropped through a portal and onto the lawn. Eddie shrieked as he fell but just before he landed, Venom engulfed him, landing in a crouch, ready to defend themselves.

“Okay, normally I wouldn’t be super pissed that you escaped because that was brilliant, but you used Peter to do it, so now we’re all mad,” Tony said, hovering off the ground in the Iron Man armor.

 

Venom straightened up and surveyed their opponents. Iron Man and War Machine flanking from each side. The Vision and Thor glowing with energy and electricity. Black Widow and James Barnes had large cannons, likely sonic, leveled at them from where they stood in front of Black Panther and Captain America. Doctor Strange hovered next to Vision, sparks dissipating from around his hands.

“We don’t want to hurt anyone,” Venom reassured, raising their hands at Eddie’s insistence. _“We look weak,”_ they grumbled.

 _“Right now that’s fine,”_ Eddie replied, _“Someone’s missing.”_

_“Hulk?”_

_“Haven’t seen him in a while, don’t know if he’s here. Where are Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye? ”_

_“Accounted for.”_

_“Oh no.”_

_“What?”_ Venom asked as Eddie wrenched control and they dove to the side, just as Captain Marvel landed right where they had just been standing. Energy rippled through the ground, and before they could fully recover, she sent a wave of energy rocketing towards them. They flipped backwards, catching and returning the shield that flew towards their head.

 

There was no small talk. No witty banter from anyone. Venom stayed on the defense, pushing the Avengers out of the way and protecting themselves from blasts and other attacks. They were up against the woods, on the boundary of the property when two webs shot out and attached to Venom’s shoulders. They were yanked to the side, out of the line of fire only to find themselves behind Peter, unmasked and shaking like a leaf. Venom unmasked, leaving Eddie free but still protected.

“They’re not all that bad, we have to give them a chance,” Peter shouted. Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye raced out of the compound, joining the Avengers in aiming weapons at Venom and Eddie.

“Kid! We’ve been over this, they eat people! Move!” Tony called, faceplate of the mask popping up.

“No.” Peter straightened up, looking Tony dead in the eyes, “They’d both be good members of the team and we should give them a chance.”

“All three of you have five minutes to make your case or we start shooting again,” Tony said. Carol and Steve looked over, mouths open.

“Are you kidding me? Just shoot it!” she argued. Natasha placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head when Carol looked back.

“Can we have two minutes to prepare?” Peter asked. Tony looked to Steve who shrugged. Carol crossed her arms and shifted all her weight to her back foot, eyes boring into Tony’s head.

“You get one,” Steve said. Peter spun around to face Eddie, panic written all over his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title is from Golden Earring's "Radar Love"


	6. No Easy Way Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm happier with this chapter, sorry about the confusion guys.This is why you don't edit and publish sleep deprived.
> 
> 3/8/19: Now updated to reflect Captain Marvel, slight spoilers at the end

Eddie soon discovered that it was nearly impossible not to be ridiculously protective of Spiderman. The kid went to bat for him and Vee, standing tall in front of the Avengers and arguing that they should one, not be imprisoned, and two, should be allowed to join the West-Coast Reserve of the Avengers. Venom purred at the notion, sending flashes of the two of them leaping through the city, saving people and being recognized for the good they did.

 _“What, ten minutes with the kid and suddenly you want to be Superman?”_ Eddie asked.

 _“You like to help people Eddie,”_ Venom replied. They pushed gently on the bond, Eddie allowing them access to his memories. They dug through, finding the series of memories of Eddie as a young child stealing toys, only to be the one who ‘found’ and returned them several hours later, of Eddie in a journalism class talking with the guy next to him about how they were going to save the world, of Eddie’s decision to go up against Drake and Riot despite all odds being against the two of them. _“We’d make great heroes.”_

 _“You realize that would mean no more hunting, right?”_ Eddie prodded.

_“Unfortunate, but acceptable. You don’t particularly enjoy hunting anyway.”_

 

“Mr. Brock,” Carol asked as Eddie snapped out of his conversation with Venom, “is there anything you’d like to add?”

 _“Shit what was the argument?”_ Eddie asked.

 _“We don’t eat good people nor do we eat bad people often, we saved the Earth from Riot and Drake and we were both willing to sacrifice ourselves in the process, and that you’d be useful on your own for your journalistic abilities,”_ Venom said.

“Yeah, I think that’s about it,” Eddie answered, “Look, I’m not even sure that I want to be an Avenger.”

“You wouldn’t be. Not exactly. We have our core team, and then there’s a bunch of reserves spread out across the globe who get called in for emergencies or if there’s a local thing you need to respond to.” Tony explained. “You wouldn’t be on duty twenty four–seven.”

“That’s if we decide that you can be trusted after a trial period.” Carol added, “ Pete and Tony may have already decided they like you, but a lot of us need some convincing.”

“And if I say no?” Eddie asked.

“We do a psych eval on both of you, put you in contact with Scott and Hope for monitoring and let you go,” Natasha said, “We’re inclined to believe you’re not a major threat given your performance today but we’ll want to keep an eye on you.”

 

Eddie paused, his mind racing with his thoughts and Venom’s at the same time. Peter looked at the two of them, essentially begging for them to join.

“Shit,” Eddie sighed, “Yeah we’re in.” Steve stepped forward and extended his hand, which Eddie shook.

“Alright, we’ll get logistics sorted out, have you sign a couple of things, give you the watch  and then we can send you guys back home,” Tony said. Eddie nodded, and the team started walking back inside. Peter stuck by Eddie’s side and Clint soon joined him, Natasha next to the archer.  Venom snaked their head out and coiled around Eddie’s neck. Clint jumped back, watching the symbiote like they were about to explode.

“I’m sorry for hurting you,” they said, opalescent eye spots blinking closed. Then they swung around to look at Peter. “And I’m very sorry for any harm I did to you.” Peter dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

“I’m fine, it was more confusing than anything,” Peter said.

“Were they shouting in your brain?” Eddie asked. Peter nodded. “You probably handled the initial bonding better than I did, it was ugly.”

“Is that where the video of you jumping in the lobster tank came from?” Clint asked. Venom chuckled as Eddie grimaced.

“Yeah, that was day two, I thought I had finally lost my mind and that was the universe’s karmic payback for all the shit I’ve pulled.” Clint smiled and stepped away as his phone buzzed, apologizing for the interruption.

 

Peter showed Eddie to the conference room where they’d be doing the necessary paperwork for him and Venom to be allowed on the team for a trial period. Carol and Rhodey walked in, each carrying a stack of paperwork larger than the New York phonebook.

“Okay, so I have all the paperwork for Venom,” Carol said, “It’s a registry of all extraterrestrials we come into contact with. I’d say sorry it’s a lot but I had to do this too when I came back so good luck, you have my sympathy but not my pity.”

“And this is for both of you,” Rhodey said. He dropped his stack on the table and Carol put hers down next to it. “Most of it’s the Accords but there’s also a couple of background check papers and a medical record that you’ll need to fill out.”  Eddie sighed, leaning back in the chair as he looked at the piles of paper in front of him.

“How long does this usually take?” Eddie asked.

“Depends on how closely you read the Accords. If you just skim the table of contents, about eight hours of work. If you actually read them, about three sixteen hour days,” Rhodey answered.

“Is there a condensed version?” Eddie asked. He could still back out. Venom pushed back against it. They could both read at once, cutting the time in half. Rhodey nodded and pointed to Peter.

“Yeah, Pete go.”

 

“Basically we have to go through the UN or directly contact the government of a country before we enter it to stop a threat and we have to notify local law enforcement, the FBI, and CIA or the international equivalent before starting an operation. We have yearly psych evaluations, and have to be cleared by a medical doctor after being injured in order to get back to the field. Our fingerprints and DNA are on record with the new SHIELD and they have to know our secret identities if we have one and we have to undergo a power analysis to decide how much of a threat we are. I got class three just because the wall crawling could be used for theft apparently. Carol is a class five, and Steve is a class two for reference.” Peter explained. “Got it?” Eddie moved to shake his head no, but Venom nodded his head, sending a burst of understanding to Eddie. They had gotten it all.

“If I had to guess, you’d probably be a class four.” Carol said. “Basically that just means that you’ll have a weekly check in with a SHIELD Agent and a log of any vigilante stuff you do.”

“Is there anyway to get around the whole identity thing?” Eddie asked, shifting in his seat as he picked up a pen and ran his thumb over the corner of the papers.

“Theoretically yes but so far the only one who’s been successful is Peter because he’s a minor,” Rhodey said. Peter smiled and looked down.

“Okay, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Eddie said, pulling the first packet off the stack and starting to read.

 

The paperwork had taken two days with Eddie and Venom reading together and immediately after, Eddie had fallen asleep for sixteen hours straight. When he woke up and stumbled out of the bedroom, he found Carol, Thor and Stephen sitting in the common area and watching a movie. Thor and Carol looked up.

“You look terrible,” Carol said.

“Yeah, sleeping four times longer than usual will do that to a guy,” Eddie muttered. He sat down on the couch a few feet from everyone else and looked at the screen. “Fury Road?”

Stephen nodded. “Peter thinks the guy who plays Max looks like you but I don’t see it,” he said.

“My ex said the same thing,” Eddie said, chuckling at the memory of Anne pausing the movie and making Eddie go stand next to the TV to compare the two. “Wait, Annie, shoot. How long have I been here?”

“Five days, two of which you’ve been doing paperwork, and one that you slept through,” Carol said, “Why, do you need to head back?”

“It’s not urgent, my boss thinks I’m out doing undercover stuff for an assignment and I told everyone else that I’d screwed up again and I was skipping town until it blew over. But Anne and Dan are going to want to know that we’re alive.” Eddie chuckled at the thought of the couple storming the compound in Anne’s car.

“Not a problem,” Stephen said. He slipped the sling ring on and held his hand up, creating a portal that led right to the interior of Eddie’s apartment.

 

“And that’s completely safe?” Eddie asked. Thor nodded and stood up, jumping through the portal and back to reassure Eddie.

“It’s a simple bend of space-time really,” Strange said, “essentially the magical equivalent of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge.” Eddie approached the portal.

“Yeah, I was an English major, I’m just gonna go with convenient magic portal and call it a day.” Eddie stepped through, before turning back to look at the Avengers chilling on the couch.

“We’ll be by later this week to drop the rest of the stuff off,” Stephen explained, trying and failing to hide a smile. Eddie nodded and disappeared from view as the portal closed.

 

The three Avengers turned their attention back to the movie. “I still don’t trust them,” Carol said. “A human-klyntar bond should not be possible.”

“Many did not think you were possible,” Thor said. Carol looked over to him, lowering her eyebrows. “I mean no offense, but when the rumors of what was done to you reached Asgard they were dismissed as tall tales. We have underestimated human’s strength and resilience for millenia.” Carol sunk into the couch.

 

“I fought a klyntar once.”

“You’re well travelled despite your years. I do not doubt it.”

“It sucked. You hit one of them and they just turn to gelatin and adapt to whatever you do.”

“Unless you use sonics or fire,” Stephen clarified. Carol nodded.

“Mar-vell pulled what’s essentially a glorified flare gun from the ship and hit it. We herded it back into a containment cell and dropped it off at the nearest research base,” Carol said, staring off at something that wasn’t there. “I got my ass handed to me that day. We were trying to pull one of our scientists out of a captured satellite orbiting Yrvitar.  A couple of rebels had captured it, the Skrulls were easy, a couple of Ravagers surrendered as soon as we showed up but the symbiote had taken our scientist as its host.”

“What happened to them?” Stephen asked.

“Don’t know, she was a good scientist. Good friend. Hope she turned out okay,” Carol answered. She stood up and dusted imaginary crumbs off her jeans and walked out of the room towards the hangar bay.

 

“I think I figured out her issue with Venom,” Strange commented some time later.  Thor looked over, FRIDAY automatically pausing the movie. “It’s not that she doesn’t like Venom, it’s that she wants closure about what happened to that scientist.”

“And she’s afraid that if she goes looking, she’ll find that they were killed or that they lost themselves,” Thor said. Stephen nodded.

“That’s why she was so angry when she found out Peter was taken,” Stephen said, “She was reliving a nightmare.” Thor shuddered. When the radio transmission had come through, Carol had been sparring with Thor. She had radioed back that she would provide an ambush, provided that Venom and Peter separated. As soon as the news had come through that Brock had the symbiote back, she shot into the sky, a glowing blur of red and blue.

“Do you think she’ll warm up to them?” Thor asked. Stephen shrugged. In an ideal world the whole team would work together perfectly. But this world was far from ideal, and there would always be broken trust and lingering fear affecting the bonds between teammates.

 

* * * * *

 

Eddie Brock and Venom had been Avengers for six months when the first big call came through. In that time he’d gotten use to various team members showing up on his doorstep at two am, ready for a mission or in need of medical attention. Scott was a frequent visitor, and Eddie and Venom were both used to hearing someone tap at the window, opening it, and then Scott popping up  from nowhere. So when someone tapped at the window, Venom didn’t think twice about opening it from across the room where Eddie was lounging on the couch with his laptop. Peter slipped through the window, landing nimbly on his feet. Once the mask was yanked off, his hair stuck up in twelve different directions.

 

“Hi Mr. Brock, hi Venom,” he said. Eddie shut the laptop not before checking the time on the clock.

“Kid isn’t it a school night?” Eddie said. He stood up Venom wrapping around his neck like a scarf.

“It’s spring break, I don’t have school.  And we got a call about something crashing in the Himalayas not far from K2 and Mr. Stark didn’t think this was a good idea for me to go on this one but my body processes Oxygen really well so I’m not going to have to worry about acclimating so I persuaded him and since you’re on the way and this is a big deal Steve told me to come get you guys!” Peter was way too awake for someone who’s body ought to be telling him that it was two am and Eddie was not awake enough for ten pm.

“Just let me grab the shirt and get a cup of coffee,” Eddie said. He walked into the bedroom, kicking the door half shut with his foot, allowing Venom to get the coffee maker going. Peter watched as Venom tossed the pod in and stuck a massive travel mug underneath, the water bubbling as it percolated through the grounds.

 

“How are the supplements working?” Peter asked, rocking back and forth on his feet as he waited. Eddie cursed from behind the door as something slammed to the ground.

“They are acceptable. Not as much fun as heads but they make Eddie happy and that is a good thing,” Venom replied, shutting off the coffee maker as the mug finished filling. They screwed the lid on and passed it to Eddie as he stepped out of the bedroom, dark hoodie and sneakers swapped out for a  gray long sleeve sporting the Avengers’ logo and a pair of tactical boots.

“Ready?” Eddie asked. Venom slid back to him, covering his torso in what looked like a leather jacket.

“Yup, hold on, Doctor Strange will bring us up,” Peter said. A portal opened beneath them and if it wasn’t for Venom seizing control at the last second, Eddie would have surely fallen upon landing on the jet.

 

Natasha passed him a briefing tablet before resuming her position where she was napping on Clint’s shoulder. He nodded and took a seat next to Scott, who was already out next to Hope, his briefing tablet opened in his lap. Hope was fully engaged in hers, offering Eddie a wordless wave without eye contact as he sat down. He nodded in return and immediately began reading.

 

 _“This is interesting,”_ Venom commented, looking at the satellite images of the ship that had crashed, triggering a series of avalanches late in the night. No injuries had been reported and curious onlookers had been kept away from the crash by the sorcerers of Kamertaj.

 _“Any idea where it’s from?”_ Eddie asked.

 _“Looks like a generic transport ship, could be from anywhere. We should talk to Danvers about it.”_ Venom suggested.

 _“She’s piloting right now, you can ask her after we land.”_ Eddie said, glancing forward into the cockpit where Carol and Rhodey sat, Sam napping in the bunk behind them, prepared to take over should someone need a break. They finished reading the briefing, popped a comm in Eddie’s ear and then dozed off, eager to pass the flight in a state of unconsciousness.

 

“It’s a Ravager ship,” Carol said standing next to Venom and Thor. Venom purred, barely covering Eddie’s skin to conserve energy. “Look at the paint markings on the starboard hull, that’s the Ravager’s logo right there, there’s the ship number and that’s their specialization. It’s an artifact runner.”

“The Ravagers are proud of their ships, they would not let one’s paint become so neglected,” Thor added, “It could be from Sakaar.” Eddie sent a pulse of confusion across the bond. Sakaar was a new name and Venom sent back a pulse of a planet that was the intergalactic equivalent of the Hunger Games being held in the Pacific Garbage Patch.

“Thor is correct, the Ravager paint is old. The carvings look to be Gramosian however.” Venom replied, supplying Eddie with the background information.

“Carvings could last years though,” Carol replied.

“Yes, but they say ‘help, survivors inside’ so it’s worth looking into,” Venom replied. Carol nodded, radioing to the team who was waiting several hundred yards back that they were going to open the capsule.

“Are you sure that’s safe?” Steve replied.

“Affirmative, Gramosians are mostly pacifists and we have enough firepower to take them if these ones aren’t,” Carol replied. “Thor crack this baby open.” Thor nodded and stepped forward, prying the blade of Stormbreaker into the hinge by the door and exposing the interior of the ship.

 

“I am Thor, Son of Odin and protector of Earth,” he announced as he stepped inside. “I mean you no harm nor do my companions.” He  waved for Carol and Venom to follow and the two did, flanking him. Carol lit up her fist and held it up, allowing them to more easily see the dark halls. Something rushed by behind them and Venom and Carol whirled around, going back to back with Thor.

“Who’s there?” Carol asked, peering into the shadows, “We’re not going to hurt you, my name is Captain Marvel, this is Venom and that’s Thor, we want to help you.”  Slowly, a figure in misty gray robes emerged, large blaster shaking in their hands. Purple blood dripped down the side of their face, and their eyes were blown wide with panic, watching the three heroes.

“What’s your name?” Venom asked, shortening their teeth and keeping their tongue mostly hidden.

“Ibyen,” the figure said, “Where are we?”

“You are on Terra,” Thor explained, “Are there others with you?” Ibyen nodded and ran off, down to a bunk room. The heroes followed, each aware that this could easily be a trap.

 

In the bunk room,there were several Gramosians to a bed, each shaking and watching the newcomers with everything from trepidation to outright fear.  

“It’s okay, you’re safe here,” Carol promised, “If you all head outside, we can work on getting you whatever help you need.” Several of the Gramosians flinched back when she approached.

“You won’t hurt us?” one asked, likely a child based off the size.

“Not unless you hurt one of us first,” Carol confirmed, providing a tentative smile, “Who’s in charge here?”

“I am,” Ibyen said, “we were captured by Yon-Rogg, they wanted to use us to build their ships. We did for a while, but then we found a ship and we escaped.” Venom nodded, gnashing their teeth together silently.

“You’re safe now,” Venom promised, “there are no Kree on Terra and if they were to arrive we would defeat them easily.” Carol and Thor nodded, and the refugees followed them out into the frigid Himalayas.

 

Stephen transported the Gramosians back to a SHIELD base where a special team would help them to adjust to life on Earth until they could find somewhere safe for them to go. Venom retreated back under Eddie’s skin, acting as a jacket against the cold wild. Carol approached them and motioned for them to follow her off to the side. They finished giving a report to the SHIELD agent who was taking a statement and joined her out on the edge of the cliff overlooking a several thousand foot drop. Eddie made a point to stand back several steps.

 

“Brock if I’m going to tell you both this you’re going to have to step forward,” Carol said, looking out over the mountain range. Eddie swallowed hard as Venom gently took control of his legs and walked him forward.  Carol turned to face Eddie and Venom, her eyes cold yet tinged with fear. “What you guys said, wasn’t quite true.”

“Which part?” Eddie asked, Venom retracing the conversation in their mind.

“The Kree are going to come back. Yon-Rogg is going to come after them, and when he realizes I'm here he's going to bring the entire Starforce after me.   And I don’t want to alert the whole team because I don't want to put them in dange, but I’m going to need help.” Venom manifested a head from the jacket to more easily converse with Carol.

“We’re happy to help,” they said, “Who knows right now?”

“You two, me, Thor and Fury. I don’t know who else we can trust right now and for a while I wasn’t really sure I could trust you not to rat me out to them. Venom, you’ve fought the Kree before, right?” Venom nodded, the memories cold as the flitted through Eddie’s mind.

“We’ll figure this out, I promise," Eddie said.   
  
“Thanks Eddie, and Venom,” Carol said, the symbiote’s attention returning to her, “thanks for dealing with me being an ass over something you didn’t do.” Venom gave a toothy smile and stretched so that they were closer to Carol.

“All is forgiven if we’re allowed to eat some Kree heads.” Carol burst out laughing while Eddie looked between the two of them unsure of what he was actually getting himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker's "I Won't Back Down"
> 
> I can't believe I actually finished this in a way I wanted to. There won't be a "sequel" persay of Carol and Venom buddy-copping it around Earth kicking Skrull butt(though I wish I had the time and inspiration for that), but in the coming weeks you can expect something with the Guardians coming to Earth and meeting Eddie and Venom. 
> 
> Thank you for all your kudos, comments, bookmarks and subscriptions, I hope you've enjoyed this journey as much as I have.


End file.
